Perfectly Blessed

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Written by Julie on 22 Oct 2014

Five years ago, my husband Jeff and I said adoption was for other people. Infertile couples. Why would anyone adopt when they could have biological children? And we did – three of them. But for the nine years since our youngest was born, we felt that God had another child for our family. Still, adoption was not something we wanted to do. Why invite the unknown into your family and upset the flow of life? Through a series of events, our hearts did a 180. God’s call to adopt began with international missions.

A Change of Heart

It doesn’t take much to soften even the most selfish heart toward God’s call to care for orphans: Just stand in the midst of them, hold one, share a meal or read a story to one of them.

You’ll quickly see that these children are deeply loved by our Father, perhaps the only father they have ever known. On February 8, 2012, we answered God’s call to adopt. It was Jeff’s day off. We were eating breakfast together while the children were in school. My heart was at a crossroads. I put my fork down, unable to take another bite, looked at Jeff, and said, “So, are we going to do this thing or not?!”

That day, Jeff called Dillon International and we took a step of faith. We knew we were supposed to adopt internationally. We knew God was calling us to adopt a girl, and that an older child would complete our family. We had no preference on country, language, or skin color.

Introduced to a New Country

We were just determined to find HER. We learned about Dillon’s new Colombia adoption program and instantly knew our daughter was in Colombia, among the 60,000 children without families.

THE phone call came October 25, 2012, at 10:30 a.m. Our daughter had been referred to us! We knew without a doubt that she was ours. When you adopt an older child, you get to skip the dirty diapers and newborn cries; however, part of your child’s story is already written. This brings unique challenges, but the blessings are immense.

A Perfect Fit

Marcela Hope officially joined our family May 21, 2013. A precious child of God with almost nine years of life already lived. God’s plan for her life includes those years, and being a part of the rest of her life is a privilege. She fits perfectly in our imperfect family. When I think about the thousands of children in Colombia who desperately want a family of their own, I wonder how many families are called but never answer. We could’ve been one of those families.

Marcela is beautiful. Inside and out. Perfect? No!

But at the end of the day—when she presses that squishy nose against my face to give me a kiss, or comes up behind me to wrap her arms around my waist to sneak a hug—I am full.

RainbowKids.com is an Adoption Advocacy Website. We are the largest and oldest, online website helping people to adopt from multiple countries. Through RainbowKids, thousands of special needs and waiting children have found families... READ ABOUT US